Just Lost In Your Eyes 2: The Big City
by Immaginare
Summary: Sequel to Just Lost In Your Eyes. The Cullens and Blacks are moving to NYC, and are excited to start over. But with the threatening Empire Clan looming near, and new acquaintances breaking their relationships, they don't know what they're getting into.
1. A New Home

**Prologue:**

_**Bella's POV**_

_**Maybe it was silly. But I felt like, maybe, just maybe, this could be our place.**_

_**Who said we weren't city people? And this, of all places, was somewhere we could blend in. Who would be looking at a group of people with shimmering skin in a city where a man with skin dyed blue or someone whose hair was a bazillion different color was a common sight?**_

_**At least, that's what I tried to convince myself.**_

_**Besides, I liked cities, especially the BIG city. When I was 11, my mother had taken me here with her. She was on a business trip, and while we were in her offices, and she was busy consulting distraught couples, I would sit by the window and look down at the bustle below. It was so alive here. It should be perfect for us.**_

_**I mean, if the Empire Clan could do it, why couldn't we?**_

_**A little voice in my head that I enjoyed ignoring whispered to me again. It seemed to have been extremely busy lately.**_

"_**Bella. The Empires eat **__**people.**__**Where are you going to find game to hunt around here? Unless you plan to follow in the same dietary habits as they do…"**_

_**I shook my head, shaking the words from my thoughts. We would make it work. After all, how hard could it be?**_

_**Right?**_

…_**..**_

Bella's POV

My granddaughter grabbed my hand and used my finger to point to something out of the airplane window. "Tall," she said, her eyes widening at the sight of the buildings that were just appearing on the horizon. "Really, really tall."

She placed her fingers on my temples and showed me a question, a talent that she had inherited from her mother. Is that where we were headed?

I smiled and nodded down at her. "That's it, baby."

She grinned contentedly and settled back down into her seat, resuming her activity of drawing various finger on the untouched pretzel bag that had been handed to us at the beginning of the flight.

I sighed and leaned back into my seat. The day was finally here. Early this morning, my entire family and I had hopped on a plane ride that was set to take us across the country to a place completely different than our old home.

But just how huge this whole thing was hadn't quite settled on me until now. The entire flight, I had spent contemplating and going over it all in my head.

Was this really a good idea?

I knew it had been time to move, of course. That was what came with everlasting life. We had to change places before people started to notice that we didn't seem to age, and we had already stayed in Forks for much too long.

But to New York City? It had been such a spontaneous decision, mostly affected by my family's yearning to keep close to Renesmee, my lovely daughter, and, of course, my young granddaughter, Sarah Bella Cullen-Black. None of us could have possibly bared parting with her, just when we were getting to _know_ her.

Truthfully, I was a little bit nervous. A few of my family members (insert Carlisle and Esme's names here) were not exactly in the metal state of mind to deal with the quick-paced motion that city life brought on. I had left choosing their house up to them, as we had decided that each couple should have their own apartment. And yes, I did say _house._ Somehow, the two had managed to score possibly the only one left in the city. But when we asked how they had managed it, they weren't able to really tell details.

Honestly, I just hoped they hadn't been screwed over.

A cloud of sadness filled my mind. Alice would have been so excited. Knowing her, she would already have been making plans to thoroughly expand her closet. She was built for this city. I could imagine her strutting the streets, getting a taxi with ease, and dragging Renesmee, Rosalie, and I down to 5th Avenue and the rest of the Shopping District. Constantly.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by a poke from my husband who was sitting next to me.

"Bella, love. Gather your things. We're landing."

My stomach fluttering in anticipation and excitement, I grabbed my carry-on bags from underneath me and placed them on my lap.

I heard my name whispered form the seat behind me, and I turned to face my son-in-law, Jacob Black.

"Bells, can you hand me Sarah? I need to get her in the backpack before we have to start moving."

I nodded, and picked up my granddaughter, helping her gather her toys together.

"Hon, you have to go back to daddy now."

She smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek goodbye. I beamed, unable to control myself. She was just so damn adorable.

Jacob came around to our row to unbuckle her seatbelt and pick her up out of her chair. After Edward ruffled her hair and kissed her on the cheek, he carried her away.

I took my husband's hand, and he chuckled. "She's going to be a beautiful young lady one day."

I squeezed his hand in agreement. "It must be your genes."

Just then, our pilot came on the announcements. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now preparing to land at JFK International Airport. Thank you for flying AirTran and I hope you have a great trip to New York."

A few moments later, we felt our aircraft hit the ground with a resounding jolt, and we began to stand up and string together our belongings along with the rest of the passengers.

We waited as row by row of people left the plane, and finally, we all left, walking down the aisle in groups, Carlisle and Esme first, then Renesmee and Jacob with little Sarah in his arms, followed by Rosalie and Emmett, and finally, Edward and I. Once we had all exited, we met by the baggage retrieval, standing in a circle in a secluded corner of the room.

"So… what now?"

Rosalie, being the most street smart of all of us, jumped in. "We can take the subway. The blue line runs right by here, so we can all just start there. Jake, Nessie, you guys don't have to go very far, since you are going to live in Brooklyn. You'll be taking the line south, like us, but you'll just get off at the Shepherd Avenue stop. From there, you can just take a taxi." The two nodded, internalizing their instructions.

Rose turned to Edward and I. We were staying in the same apartment complex, so she was reading the instructions for all 4 of us. "You guys, plus Em and I, we've got a longer trip. Eventually, we'll get off the blue line, and get on the one that's colored orange. We'll take that all the way up to Upper West Manhattan. Let's just get off… at 81st Street Station. We can pretty much just walk from there to where we're going."

I frowned, glad I had Rosalie going with us. I hadn't understood any of what she had just said.

Finally, she turned to Carlisle and Esme. "Where are you guys headed?" she asked.

Esme quickly pulled out a little slip of paper out of her pocket. "It says here… Cypress Avenue?"

Rosalie's face would have paled if it could. "Are you sure?"

They both nodded.

Rose grimaced and swallowed hard. "You guys… you're headed to the Bronx. South Bronx. I-"

Carlisle frowned, and interrupted. "I've heard a lot about that place on the news. It sounds bad… but we can handle it, right? I mean, we're…" I gestured quickly at his teeth, not wanting to say the word out loud.

Rosalie shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about."

Since we were all still confused, she continued. "The Empire Clan… well, their _headquarters_ is on Cypress Avenue. I was just thinking… you said you don't know much about the house you got, or-"

Esme nodded, understanding. "Who sold it to us."

We were all silent for a moment, suddenly deadly aware of every honk of a horn and siren rushing by outside. Finally, Carlisle spoke up.

"There's nothing we can do about it," he said, sounding like he was reassuring himself more than us. "Anyways, I'm sure it's not them. It's probably just a coincidence."

"Are you sure you don't want to come stay with us? Just for tonight?" Edward asked, grabbing his mother's quivering hand.

But Carlisle firmly shook his head. "We'll be fine."

"O-okay then," Rosalie said shakily. "So you'll just…"

As she told the two their instructions, my mind wandered off. Could it really be them? The clan had a long history of fierceness, and in the vampire community, were credited with at least _a fifth_ of the murders that took place annually in the city. And it was all brought back to their alleged leader: Adriano de Luca. These tales could be rumors, but still…

I was awoken by Edward grabbing my arm. "C'mon, love. We're going."

As the door swung open, the sounds I had heard muffled inside the airport crashed into me, amplified by a thousand. We were all suddenly swept into a rush of people, all on their cell phones, seeming incredibly rushed to get to one place or another, even though it was 11 o'clock at night. Nobody walked this fast in Forks. I was suddenly relying solely on Edward's touch to lead me to where we were going.

Before I knew it, I had been led onto the subway. Grabbing onto one of the nearby poles, I held tight onto Edward's hand and with a rush of relief saw the rest of my family surrounding me.

The train jolted to a start, and we all stood in silence.

After a few quick minutes of stop after stop and many a "Are we there yet?" accompanied with a giggle from Sarah, the tired- sounding announcer said "Shepherd Avenue". Jake and Nessie gathered their bags and their baby before giving each of us remaining a peck on the cheek.

"We'll see you tomorrow," Nessie said to me, and I nodded, hoping I looked more assured than I felt.

"Be safe. I love you," I replied. She quickly nodded before scrambling off the car with many others.

What felt like hours later, Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett and I all got off the train.

'We're taking the green line," The two oldest told us. We all nodded and exchanged quick and worried goodbyes. Looking confused and mildly scared, they hurried off into the crowd of people.

From then on, we all followed Rose.

About half an hour later, we hopped off of our car for the last time to see a worn out wall with woolly mammoths and dinosaurs made out of tile scattered all over it.

"We're near the Museum of Natural History," Rosalie explained.

After a few blocks of walking, I suddenly saw a huge building rising across the road. There was a glass extension on it. It looked like…

"A planetarium," Emmett explained. "It's supposed to look like the solar system."

It was beautiful.

We finally stopped walking in front of a small building, with a tarp covering the entrance. It was… rather drab, really.

"This is it," Rosalie said, and walked forward first into the lobby. Going straight up to the front desk, she took the job of checking both of us in. She handed Edward and I our room key once she was done.

"You're on level 6," she said. "We're on level 3. Will you guys be able to find your rooms?"

We nodded, and she smiled contentedly. Kissing us both goodnight on the cheeks, and after a pat on the back from my brother-in-law, they walked up to one of the elevators and entered the door closing behind them. Edward and I followed suit.

After going down many twisting and turning hallways, we finally made it into our _unbelievably _small apartment, with just one bedroom, and bathroom, and a kitchenette that was useless.

My husband and I sighed in unison. I guess this was our new… home. To even think the word felt weird.

We were woken from our thoughts by a knock on the door. Edward opened it to find a young woman in her early 20's carrying what seemed to be a… _burrito_ in her hands.

"Hi!" She said, walking in with no sign from us to enter. She threw her arms around Edward and gave him a big squeeze, quickly doing the same to me.

"I'm Emily Roberts, your new neighbor!"

….

**A/N: So, sorry. This was a pretty long chapter, but I wrote this with no earlier planning, and I tried to make everything I put in pretty relevant. I plan to post the next chap within a week.**

**So here are some spoilers:**

**Chapter 2: Edward gets friendly with the new neighbor, and Carlisle and Esme are missing in action. Bella explores her newfound fascination.**

**Chapter 3: A terrifying wakeup call comes to the Cullens and Blacks, and Rosalie catches the interest of a famed director.**

**Hope you liked it, lovies!**

**Love,**

**Daniella**

**Please review!**


	2. Deja Vu

**Bella's POV**

The young woman looked like she had just stepped out of the cover of _Vogue_. Although she must have been 5'3 at the most, she seemed to tower over me in her 6-inch heels. With my hawk like vision, I thought I could just detect a _Christian Loubiton _label peeking out from under the seams.

Her skin was a silky, creamy, ebony that was as flawless as mine, flowing onto her curves as smoothly as buttermilk. Her lips were large and pink and her cheeks were flushed a natural deep berry. If not for her enticing smell, she could've been one of us. A vampire.

My eyes trailed up to her uncannily bright hazel globes that looked straight at me, unfazed by my obvious beauty. They were framed by wild locks of tight curls that formed a halo, spurring in odd directions all over her head. As they focused on my husband, I could see curiosity forming in them.

I took a step closer to him, instantly becoming protective. "Who are you?" I said sharply, after Edward seemed at a loss for words.

She blinked and played confused. "I thought I already said that," she said, a strong southern accent showing through. She turned back to Edward. "Ain't I already say that?"

He slowly nodded, still unable to speak.

She quickly shrugged it off, and handed me the burrito. "Housewarmin' gift. I made it myself." She accompanied this with a big smile.

My face still tense, I nodded. "Thank you."

She rolled her eyes, and brushed past us, settling down in one of the chairs surrounding the small coffee table. I quickly swiveled around. This girl was irritating me.

"Excuse me, what _exactly _do you think you're doing? My husband and I have to unpack, and-"

She held one finger up, cutting me short. "Honeybun, we better get this awkwardness over early. I'm going to be living next to you, so we best get along. I suggest we have dinner together. That burrito is _ah-mazing_, and I frankly won't be missin' out on it." This, too, was delivered with a huge grin.

I pursed my lips. "My name isn't _honeybun. _It's Bella. And this is my, husband, Edward." I grasped his hand, begging for support. There was no response. "And we can't have dinner with you. As I was _saying,_ we have to unpack and put everything away."

Emily frowned, standing up and walking towards us again. She poked my husband's chest with her finger, and he fell back, startled.

"He ain't said anything. I'm sure _he_ wants to come over to my house for some food. Don't you, honey?" I saw her discreetly adjust her blouse so that it was open wider. My stomach boiled in fury.

But Edward would never blow me off, and defy me, to go to dinner with some skank. It's not like he could _eat_ it!

Finally, he spoke. "Well, I guess it would be rude not to, so…," he said slowly, expertly avoiding my gaze.

I stepped back in shock as Emily grabbed his hand. "That's right. You come get some of my World-famous cookin' while Little Miss Housewife over here," she said, her eyes smoothly trailing up my body in disgust, "_unpacks her bags."_ Edward was still averting my gaze.

She blew me a kiss coated in sarcasm. "Bye, honeybun."

The door slammed behind them.

_Bitch._

**Edward's POV**

Emily put the burrito half down in front of me, and slid out her chair to sit down, emitting a grunt of relief.

She leaned on her elbows, staring me straight in the eyes. I looked back, imagining how happy I could be floating in those pools of olive forever.

I shook my head, removing the thought from my mind, and trying to pull up a picture of Bella in place of it. None surfaced.

"What's up your wife's ass?" She asked abruptly. I froze, startled, and she laughed at my expression. She had a laugh like none I had ever heard. It wasn't held back, or at all graceful. It was full, hearty, and bold, saturating the room in booming echoes.

I chuckled too, only for a few moments before she stopped, instantly serious again. "But honestly."

I shrugged. "We just made a big move, I guess. We used to live in Washington, and there to here…" I said, trailing off. She nodded, seeming to know what I meant.

"Yeah, I understand. I came here from Louisiana, 5 years ago. It took a little adjustin' but...," she said, patting my hand. Hers was still warm from oven. "It gets better." I felt tingles running through my body, and was disappointed when she removed her hand to start eating.

She gestured to my food. "Ain't you gonna…"

I quickly shook my head. "No. We ate… um, we ate on the plane."

She pulled my plate towards her. "Fine then. More for me."

I watched her devour both plates. She seemed at war with her hands, urging them to _keep moving!_ when they weren't coming fast enough to reach her awaiting mouth.

Once she was done and had washed the dishes, she brought me over to her couch and plopped down, turning on the TV.

I didn't know many channels, but I sure knew the one that was on. I grinned.

She noticed me. "You watch _Saturday Night Live?_" She asked, seeming surprised.

I nodded. "I sneak it. Bella thinks it's stupid."

She turned so that she was fully facing me. "So then how 'bout this. Every Saturday night from now on, you take that fine ass of yours and get it over here." If I could have been blushing, I would have. She settled her head into my shoulder, seeming unfazed by my icy touch. "We'll watch it together."

I smiled and nodded. "I'd like that."

We sat and watched the show together, laughing and commenting on every skit. I retold each joke she enjoyed, for a chance to hear that laugh again. Something about it filled me up, the way food fills up a human. It made me feel warm and happy and safe. After a few minutes of silence, a question that had been nagging at me came to the forefront of my mind.

"Why aren't you scared of my eyes?" I asked. Wouldn't she, as a human, normally be uneased by their golden sheen?

But she just shrugged, not even looking up. "Gold? Not so uncommon over here. Every few people got those same eyes that you and your wifey do." She giggled. "And you thought you was all special, didn't you?"

I didn't respond. _Every few people?_ There were many, many more vampires here than we had suspected.

After that, we sat in silence. Once NBC transitioned onto the next show, I looked down to see Emily snoring softly on my shoulder.

I didn't have the heart to move her. So, I sat back, and studied her face, content in watching her sleep.

Something I vaguely remembered doing to Bella several years ago.

…..

**Bella's POV**

I looked down at my boots as I walked on the busy street, silently cursing my impeccable hearing. Every new crack of a branch and honk of a horn had me jump and swivel on the spot, before I remembered that noise was a part of life here. A part that would be hard to adjust to.

_Snap!_ I cringed and controlled my natural reflexes as I heard a brittle leaf break under a small child's boot about 30 or 40 yards back. Sighing, I continued on. If this was how it was going to be at every second, I wasn't sure how much of my time I could spend outside from now on.

But it had been necessary for me to get out of the apartment. It was cold and dark alone, and I would have rather burned myself to death than have stepped into the bippity boppity bumpkin's apartment where Edward was. Where he had gone to have a burrito _without _his wife, on our first night here! I dryly chuckled as I thought how he would get around eating the thing. I had considered going down to visit Rose & Emmett, but instinct and supernatural hearing again told me that whatever they were doing, I would rather not be there to witness it.

So I got up, out, and had the brilliant idea of going for a walk. So far, circles around our block had been my only destination. I internally recorded every store, shop, and complex on all four streets I passed, although I doubted I'd ever need the information. It was just a mindless way to keep my thoughts away from Edward and- Emelda? Elizabeth? Edget? I settled for Bumpkin for now, which was by far my favorite name for her anyways.

I would have probably continued this pattern if not for a middle aged couple and their teenage son who I passed just as I was about to turn the corner. His nose stuck slightly up in a seemingly arrogant way, and he spoke in a grating drawl when he opened his mouth. "Planets are boooooring, Mum. Let's go to M&M World!" Although he rebelliously and somewhat loudly started chanting "M&M! M&M!", I saw his father grab him by the wrist and drag him to the right, in the opposite direction that I was going.

I realized right away what the boy had meant. _The planetarium!_ The one that Emmett had pointed out right before we pulled up to our complex. In an eighth of a second, I had turned around and began to follow the family across the street.

About 2 blocks later, I saw it. At first, only the glass ceiling and the tippy top of what seemed to be a replica of Jupiter were visible to me. But as I approached, step by step, more of the display came into my view. After a minutes more walking, I stopped, pausing to take in the sight. Against the night sky, the artfully crafted planets seemed almost real, the strong wires that held them up disappearing into the starless black. I quickly lurched forward, as if this beauty might disappear at any second, and took my place in the short line to get into the tall glass building, continuing to stare at the view so unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I was broken out of my trance by an annoyed cough, and brought my gaze down to see a slightly overweight middle aged man leaning on the ticket booth, his eyes telling me that he didn't have time for airheaded women who wanted to stare at the planets. I hurriedly reached for my credit card in my pocket and swiped it through, waiting for his okay to go inside. When he tiredly gestured me toward the entrance, I had to restrain myself from sprinting toward the towering double glass doors. I could tell by the woman who entered before me that the doors were pretty heavy, so I managed to fake some effort before stepping onto the cool tile floor and into the space in front of me.

….

You know in those cliché romantic movies when the main characters eyes meet, and the rest of the world disappears? And you're like, okay, c'mon now, how do you not see that crazy guy dancing in a poncho off to the side? That?

That's how I felt when I looked up at the sky above me, decorated by orbs of green and blue and red and white and other colors that I couldn't put a name to. It was like all the mingling tourists who were also admiring the stunning works of art suddenly vanished, the yells of parents and blaring taxi cab horns fading off into the distance. The only things here were me, Bella, and the planets that were so close and so in detail that the light stroke of grey that made a crevice in the surface of the mass was real, hurtling toward me at terrifying speed.

But I wasn't scared. I wanted to run into these planets, away from New York, away from Earth, and collide with ground and gas and live there forever in a cloud of purples and pinks and yellows.

"Ma'am? Ma'am. Ma'am, please. Please don't make me yell."

I was drawn out of my thoughts forcefully, and was slightly annoyed to turn and see the same man who ushered me in standing next to me with an exasperated expression on his face. A quick glance around the room told me that we were the only ones left here.

"Ma'am, I have been trying to reach you in that little world of yours for the last five minutes. Its 10, closing time. You gotta go."

My mind jolted back into the real world, the whirring of cars outside hitting my ears hard and bringing me back into reality. "I'm- I'm sorry. I'm so-" I hurried to grab my purse up where I had dropped it on the floor in my daze. "I'll leave, I'm sorry." The man didn't bother to reassure me or give me a forgiving smile. It seemed that here, things were too rushed to bring a frazzled young woman back from outer space.

I turned quickly and scuttled toward the exit. But just before I put my hand on the doorknob, I remembered something and swiveled back around.

"Excuse me. How often are you guys open?"

He turned back around and gave me a look. "Hours are on the door. Good night." But I cleared my throat, causing him to slowly peek his head over his shoulder in a less than enthusiastic way. I don't know why I did it. Maybe some need for human contact to bring me back to the real world. Maybe I just wanted some real confirmation that I could come back here to this dazzling world. Either way, I gave him my most hopeful smile, and he rolled his eyes. "Monday through Saturday. 11 to 10." He sarcastically returned my smile, and made his voice match his expression. "Anything else, sweetheart?"

I was internally wounded before I remembered that this wasn't Forks, and not everyone was going to greet me with a hug and a tray of cookies wherever I went. I stood up a little bit straighter and hardened my look. "No, that'll be it. Good night." I finally headed off back into the street. But before the door fully closed, I heard him muttering about smiles and goodnights and retirement. I laughed, figuring it was better than breaking down into tears.

…..

I jammed the key into my apartment door and turned it once, twice, three times before I heard the _click_ that confirmed it was open. I turned the knob and stepped into the kitchen, which was right behind the door. I dropped my purse on the oven, took off my coat, meticulously hanging it just so on the empty rack, and sighed. I was about to sit down at the small round "kitchen table" when I saw him in the other chair. I stiffened, but pulled out the seat and plopped myself into it, not breaking our eye contact. I cleared my throat.

When it became obvious that he wasn't going to speak, I said the only thing that came to mind. "How was the burrito?"

He broke my gaze, his eyes focusing on a speck of dust that settled onto the brown countertop.

"That bad? Well, huh. I thought I warned you…"

"Bella."

He looked up, his eyes focusing on me with a new intensity. I was startled. Not funny?

"Oh, okay. Maybe it was good. I could cook, you know. I just never knew you had such an appetite-"

"Esme's gone."

…

**A/N: Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I know I kind've haven't updated in, like, more than a year… But I swear! I'm gonna do it this time! I'm gonna be regular, I really am! Anyways, you might've noticed a little bit of a change in the writing style, cause the first part of this chapter, up until when Edward's POV is over, was written in April 2011, except for a few tweaks I made today. And then the rest… yeah, I just wrote that all today, June 2012. Oops. I will TRY to post the next chapter soon. Maybe like Monday, Tuesday? So anyways, spoilers…**

**Chapter 3: A terrifying wakeup call comes to the Cullens and Blacks. Edward and Emily continue to get closer. A figure from Bella's past comes back and completely changes her life, as well as her family's, though they may not know it yet. Bella meets a man who shares her new interest, but they have **_**much**_** more in common than that. The whole family is going a little bit coo-coo for cocoa puffs, what with Esme being missing and all.**

**Chapter 4: Bella has a flashback that tells the story of what really happened with this returned character, which explains a lot of confusion about Just Lost in Your Eyes 1. She also has a burning secret that could change the family. Bella goes crazy pants on someone, which results in a fight. Guess who it's between. Yay!**

**Of course, all this is subject to change, but this is probably how it'll be.**

**Hope y'allsies liked it! YAY I UPDATED AGAIN YAY. (:**

**Please R&R!**

**Kbai.**


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